Eriksen enjoys being in the lead

Ajax resumes competition play on Wednesday evening against sc Heerenveen. Ajax is the new league leader. In the Abe Lenstra stadium, Frank de Boer’s team will continue their quest for the 31st national title in club history. A win against Heerenveen can be decisive in the race for the title. Something the 20 year old Christian Eriksen realises all too well.

“If we win, Heerenveen will be seven points behind”, says the well informed, 20 year old Dane. “Everything is in our own hands and that’s a great feeling, especially looking at the rankings. We’ve had a tough time, but we’re on top now.”

Although a few months ago, five teams were ahead of Ajax in the rankings, the midfielder never gave up hope. “We kept feeling that our play would get better, but that process was going slowly. Now it’s going well and we’re showing that we can play great football.”The 2-0 win against PSV was a huge boost. “I think that match was very important for our confidence”, emphasizes the young Scandinavian. “A week later, we were on top. Before Christmas break, we would never have thought that was possible.”

It’s the third season in a row that Eriksen fights with Ajax until the very end of the season for the championship. “And it’s been a catch up game each year”, he adds. “The first year we just missed it, and last year, we just made it. Now we have all of the cards in our own hands to do that again.” Eriksen isn’t taking a good performance against their Friesland based opponents for granted. “Heerenveen is doing well. Their front line has the Midas touch”, he says, referring to Luciano Narsingh, Bas Dost and Oussama Assaidi. “We need to make sure that they can’t do that. In any case, we know what we can do and we’ve shown that in our last two matches. We want the title badly.”Last season, these two teams also met in the competition’s closing hours. Ajax won that meeting 1-2, and Eriksen’s contribution was big. “An assist and a goal”, he says, off the cuff. “That was great. I scored against the Danish keeper Kevin Stuhr-Ellegaard. He’s gone now and they don’t have any more Danes.”